To keep a wearer safe and comfortable, footwear is called upon to perform a variety of functions. For example, the sole structure of footwear should provide adequate support and impact force attenuation properties to prevent injury and reduce fatigue, while at the same time provide adequate flexibility so that the sole structure articulates, flexes, stretches, or otherwise moves to allow an individual to fully utilize the natural motion of the foot.
For example, the sport of soccer imposes special demands upon players and their footwear. During any given game, soccer players perform a wide variety of movements (e.g., running, sprinting, side-to-side, cutting, foot-planting, ball handling, kicking, goal shots, etc.). During all of these movements, pressure shifts from one part of the foot to another. Further, during many of the movements, significant impact loads may be experienced by the foot.
As another example, skateboarding requires the skateboarder to apply pressure to one or the other portions of the skateboard using his or her feet in order to control the board. This requires that skateboarders apply pressure to the board through their shoes at different locations on the bottom and edges of the shoes. For example, for some skateboarding tricks, pressure is applied along the lateral edge of the foot, approximately at the outer toe line location. For other tricks, pressure is applied on the lateral edge of the foot somewhat forward of the outer toe line location. As the interaction between the skateboarder and the skateboard is particularly important when performing such tricks, skateboarders typically prefer shoes having relatively thin and flexible soles that allow the skateboarder to “feel” the board. Additionally, however, many skateboard tricks result in impact loads being felt by the skateboarder. Thus, it is preferable that the sole also provide adequate shock attenuation to mitigate the shocks experienced by the skateboarder.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide footwear that allows the wearer to better feel and grip the ground or other foot-contacting surfaces, to achieve better dynamic control of the wearer's movements, while at the same time providing impact-attenuating features that protect the wearer from impacts due to these dynamic movements.